


the garden of eden

by brightsmoon



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: 80's Music, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Badass Opeli, Banter, Drawing, F/F, F/M, FLOWER PUNS, Family Dinners, Family Dynamics, Florist Fareeda, Fluff with a fluffy ending, Gentle Kissing, Love at First Sight, Mild Language, Neha and Harrow are Siblings, Pop Culture, Strangers to Lovers, does that make sense? no but i'm the author here dammit, fareeda is a crazy cat lady, flower symbolism, its my brand by now, once again creating fics no one wanted for a tag no one needed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 19:57:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19933651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightsmoon/pseuds/brightsmoon
Summary: "Hello, welcome to Royal Blooms! How can we help y-"Fareeda's never been stunned speechless before but supposes there's a first time for everything. The woman is shorter than her, dirty-blonde hair pulled into a messy high ponytail with pieces that hang around her face, framing it perfectly. Her steel-blue eyes like globe thistles stare back at Fareeda and it's then she realizes she's been staring.Tearing her eyes away is the hardest thing Fareeda's ever done. The woman chuckles. "Help me with what?"She's so caught.





	the garden of eden

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in a single night i'm almost impressed. shoutout to petra, kuki, julia and robyn on twitter for encouraging my hopeless fareli ass to actually do this because somehow i chose the two characters who have never interacted once in canon to ship. i can't believe i created this tag and now am posting a second story in it. wow.
> 
> whetted knife's update will be pushed back to next week simply because the characters are rioting and not really working with me right now. sorry!!
> 
> title ; [the sweetest of sweet](https://hellopoetry.com/poem/3241362/the-sweetest-of-the-sweet/) by lilly f [also the dumb flower puns are from HERE because i'm not that creative and it's almost midnight as i post this](https://itsmejd.com/clever-flower-puns/)
> 
> enjoy!

The bell over the door twinkles happily and Fareeda looks up from the register.

“You’re late.”

Harrow waves her off, dopey smile on his face. “I was saying goodbye to my wife.”

“For five minutes?” Fareeda laughs and finishes ringing up the customer, wrapping the stems in brown paper. She snips a piece of twine and winds it around before knotting and handing it off, grin dancing across her face. “She works right across the street; everyone in here could see you two _saying goodbye_ , if that’s what the kids call that nowadays. It looked like two seals fighting for a grape.”

There’s a laugh from the back and Annika sticks her head through. “Leave him alone 'Reeda, he’s in _love.”_

She sings the last part and Fareeda's nose wrinkles. “I thought the honeymoon phase wears off after a year. it’s been ten.”

“Give 'em hell!” Neha shouts, poking her head through a moment later. “How dare he be late! You’re running a business here and he’s disrespecting your superiority!”

Harrow makes an offending scoffing noise and his little sister sticks out her tongue in retaliation. Waggling her finger at both siblings in turn, a smile plays across her lips mockingly when she addresses Neha.

“You didn’t come into work last week because it was the anniversary of the first time you and Annika went on a date!” Fareeda laughs, exasperated. “So you’re not entirely off the hook either! _Pot_ meet _kettle_.”

Annika makes an _oooh-_ ing noise as if they're in primary school again. Shoving at her wife playfully, the two women laugh as Harrow slips on his apron, looping the strings to tie around front because they’re too long. While Fareeda's apron is a deep mauve color with her name stitched in gold at the breast pocket, his, Neha and Annika's are a dark charcoal color and each is embroidered with a dumb flower pun.

 _Petal to the metal,_ Harrow's boasts. He had laughed boisterously when Fareeda presented him with it, knowing all too well the motorcycle that sat out front, it's twin parked in front of Badass Tatts across the street.

Neha's is stitched with _Talk dirt to me_ , which she had specifically requested. Rumor has it she slept on the couch for a week after, Annika kicking her out of the bedroom but it always got a laugh out of customers so she counted it as a win.

Now, Fareeda had pondered long and hard for Annika's. Finally settling on _oopsie daisy_ as short and simple, Annika herself, Fareeda had presented it with very little flourish and got a hug in response.

 _Once and for-al,_ her says proudly and she smiles every time she puts it on.

Let it never be said Fareeda Evenere isn't a fun boss.

The bell above the door jingles as their customer departs and Fareeda wipes the counter absentmindedly. Harrow dances around her to fill the watering can in the sink before making his way to the store floor and begins whispering to the plants as if they can hear them.

She finds herself smiling. It's a Wednesday morning, barely nine, and while the store is empty there's an element of homeliness in the quiet music piped through the speaks courtesy of Neha's phone and the creaking of the floorboards accompanied by the snipping of scissors that flutter through the curtains.

Fareeda loves her store.

By far her favorite part is the bell above the door that chimes merrily whenever moved. She had found it at a farmer's market, half-buried beneath old license plates and picked-apart radios, smeared with dirt.

She hadn't left until it was wrapped in her hands. Cradling it like a baby in her arms, it had been the final touch to her store before she turned the hand-painted sign around to 'open' for the first time.

The sound is the closest thing to happiness that she can describe. It brings a smile to her face without fail and she's just washing off the cloth in the sink when it tingles. Wringing it out and setting it to the side, she looks up with a smile on her face.

"Hello, welcome to Royal Blooms! How can we help y-"

She's never been stunned speechless before but supposes there's a first time for everything. The woman is shorter than her, dirty-blonde hair pulled into a messy high ponytail with pieces that hang around her face, framing it perfectly. Her steel-blue eyes like globe thistles stare back at Fareeda and it's then she realizes she's been staring.

Tearing her eyes away is the hardest thing Fareeda's ever done. The woman chuckles. "Help me with what?"

Fareeda's just opening her mouth and hoping whatever comes out doesn't sound like the train wreck going on inside her head when Harrow's booming voice saves her.

She's never loved and hated him more.

“Opeli!”

The woman - _Opeli?_ Fareeda thinks it a perfect match for its owner - turns and she watches Harrow sweep up the main aisle, a wide grin on his face. Opeli accepts his bear hug that lifts her off her feet and she laughs once - a loud, clear thing that makes Fareeda’s cheeks stain like crushed roses.

She's an absolute lost cause and knows it.

Opeli's leather jacket squeaks slightly as Harrow hugs the stuffing out of her and Fareeda glances the shirt beneath - a Rolling Stones t-shirt. She chuckles to herself. No wonder she and Harrow are friends.

Her co-worker is an 80's music purist.

Harrow sets her down after a second. “It’s been too long! What brings you to our side of the street?”

Leaning her cocked hip against the counter, Opeli smirks and counts on her fingers. “First, I saw you last night at our usual Tuesday dinners, _genius_ , and second, you said if I had free time I could come by and work on my technique, remember? Sarai gave a thirty break because one of her regulars came in.”

“Right,” Harrow amends and slaps his palm against his forehead, smudging dirt there. Fareeda finds herself exchanging amused secret glances with Opeli, neither woman telling him about the soil smeared there.

“Fareeda?”

“Huh?” she snaps back to attention and finds Opeli studying her in a way that makes her feel bare. She forces herself not to look at the woman and instead focuses on Harrow. “I'm sorry, what did you say? I missed it."

There’s a shit-eating quality to Harrow’s smile. She’s been caught and knows instantly she'll never hear the end of it

She's been set-up.

Wasn't it just yesterday Harrow told her she needed to find someone to settle down with because cats weren't a substitute for a significant other? Fareeda had called _bullshit_ and sent him to de-weed the front of the store which is the closest thing to time-out she can inflict on her co-workers. A kind of dog-house, she supposes.

“I said,” he enunciates slowly, grin growing and she wonders if the front needs de-weeding again possibly, “is that okay?”

“Is what okay?”

“For me to chill here for a while,” Opeli interjects and Fareeda finds herself staring at the woman again. The woman in leather shrugs, hand on the messenger bag on her shoulder Fareeda hadn't noticed until now. “I need to work on how I draw flowers and Harrow said I could come by - if that’s okay, of course-“

“Yes!” Fareeda says brightly and winces a moment later because she's an idiot and has spoken too fast. She smiles and hopes Opeli can't read minds because hers is screaming a mile a minute. "Yes, that’s alright. It’s a slow day anyway, we only have a few orders unless a walk-in comes by. Feel free to walk around and sit anywhere you like - our only rule is that if you see any cats, you have to pet them.”

Opeli’s eyebrow arches. “Cats as in _plural?”_

She points to the sign next to the counter at the precise moment Neha decides to make herself known.

“Fareeda has a soft spot for them,” Neha says with her head sticking through the doorway again, smiling warmly. “There’s a cat door in the back along with food and water bowls so they come as they please. They're also scattered among the store as is some catnip plants by the front window. If you ask nicely, 'Reeda might give you some treats.”

Opeli studies the sign with squinted eyes as Fareeda points to her co-worker.

“Order,” she reminds her and Neha salutes playfully, a mock-serious look crossing her face before disappearing again. Fareeda can hear her and Annika giggling in the back even from here.

She's _so_ caught.

Opeli’s looking at her when Fareeda turns around but averts her eyes quickly. Harrow’s gaze bounces back and forth between them like a tennis ball before clapping his hands. “Oh wow, would you hear that, I think - I think Annika and Neha need me in the back.”

She stares at him like he’s grown a second head. “What?”

“Yeah,” he nods quickly, tied-back dreads shaking with the movement as he heads towards the curtain, “Yeah they need me right away _igottagoseeyoulateropelibye!”_

With that he’s gone. Opeli’s eyebrows raise further. After a moment of silence she pins Fareeda with a dubious look.

“That was weird, even for him.”

Fareeda closes her eyes, curses her coworkers before opening them. “He’s like that sometimes, sorry. Don't mind his antics. Go ahead and walk around, don’t mind me.”

Nodding, Opeli reaches into the bag hanging off her shoulder and pulls out a sketchbook. She rifles through it as she walks away but at the last second pauses and turns back around.

Fareeda stops from where she's brushing non-existent dirt off her apron and raises her eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I like your apron," Opeli says with a grin before tugging her lower lip between her teeth. "And would you just so happen to have any cat treats around? I think I see a black and white tail by the window and a peace offering would be greatly appreciated before I intrude on their space."

"That's Charlotte and Lord knows she doesn't need any more treats but I think I can swing something," Fareeda winks before bending to retrieve the bag from underneath the counter.

If she didn't know any better, she would swear she saw Opeli blush as if she's a begonia but tells herself it's a trick of the light. A few treats in her palm later, the woman heads for the front window and Fareeda waits until she's out of sight among the flowers in the middle aisle before booking it into the back room.

She's gonna kill her coworkers. There's not enough weeds in the front to punish them accordingly.

Like the devious little masterminds they are Annika, Neha and Harrow are gathered around the long table in the middle of the room, giggling while twisting stems together. Fareeda considers the time in jail for manslaughter but decides against it - she'll miss Aanya's birthday if she does.

"I hate all of you," she informs them loftily and her three friends have the gall to laugh.

Neha leans forward on her elbows as Fareeda bustles around the room, pretending to look for something on the shelves. "She's cute, isn't she?"

"I guess," she shrugs and Harrow's choked laughter becomes a chortle. She debates on how to tell Sarai that she killed her husband for the greater good. "If you like 80's wannabe rocker chicks."

Annika groans.

"Oh c'mon, 'Reeda! You like her - we could all see it and I wasn't even in the room. You're not a great actress, hun."

Fareeda pins her best friend with a hurt look. "You too? I thought you were above all this."

"I was above all of this until you adopted a fourth cat."

She's opening her mouth to defend Rupert - he's fat and orange, how can you hate a fat orange cat with a squished nose? - when Opeli's voice calls out.

"Hey, Fareeda?"

Harrow looks victorious and leans across the table to high-five his sister as Fareeda grumbles under her breath about _betrayal never coming from your enemies._ Annika's giggle earns her a glare she doesn't take to heart. She's not scary. Being as tall as she is, Fareeda wishes for once that things would go her way.

With a final glare at her associates - she's no longer calling them _friends_ \- Fareeda moves aside the curtain and steps into the main store. "Yeah?"

"Over here," Opeli calls back and Fareeda follows her voice until she reaches the source and laughs before clamping a hand over her mouth. It's too late, though.

Sitting on the floor, sketchbook lying abandoned in front of her, Opeli's entire lap and the space around her is filled with purring, blissful cats. Fareeda doesn't put the pieces together before she sees the tipped-over pot and identifies the leaves.

"You gave them catnip?" Fareeda laughs and Opeli looks affronted.

"I didn't know what it was! They just got all excited so I broke off a few leaves but then more came and now-"

Her voice gets higher with each word and she flaps out her arms. Fareeda smothers a chuckle but finds she can't bury her mirth completely - Opeli is covered by at least eight cats, purring, eyes lidded shut and looking like they've just smoked a blunt.

Well, a cat blunt.

"It's all right," Fareeda says soothingly as she crouches, setting the pot back up before looking up at Opeli. "It won't hurt them, they're just slightly high. Catnip is just like a drug for them. They'll be okay in a bit."

Between the two of them, they manage to transfer the boneless cats to the front window and Fareeda goes to fetch a broom. Opeli winces apologetically when she returns.

"Sorry for making a mess of your store."

She waves it off. "It's really no trouble. Did you at least get some work done before the cats got to you?"

Opeli laughs, head tilting back. Fareeda swears her heart skips a beat or two at the sound.

"I did," Opeli says as her laugh quiets into a chuckle. "Would you like to see?"

It doesn't escaper Fareeda's notice how her voice quiets at the end. She returns the smile easily and sits cross-legged on the hardwood floors next to the woman. "I would like that. Am I allowed to?"

"I would allow it," Opeli nods and slides the sketchbook into her lap.

The cover is brown leather and _Badass Tatts_ is carved into the front. Fareeda guesses a gift from Sarai - she's met Harrow's wife. She's as kind as she is passionate about her work and likes when others are. A present like this is telling of the woman's thoughtfulness.

She opens the book and her breath catches.

There's a wolf howling, fur simplistic but _oh so striking_. A full moon rises behind the sleek form and next to it there's scrawlings that Fareeda guesses is Opeli's handwriting.

Pointing to it, she looks up. "You did this?"

"Yeah, it was my first tattoo design. Sarai did it for me," Opeli smiles and Fareeda smiles back. "It's on my back."

She turns the page as Opeli keeps talking. Time seems to fade as she flips through the sketchbook, fingers ghosting over inked designs on heavy white paper.

"These are incredible," she breathes and turns the last page. There's the catnip, sitting in its pot and directly next to the sketch is a closer and more detailed drawing of the leaves' veins.

Fareeda's eyes catch on the page right across from it though and she's certain her lungs have forgotten how to breathe.

It's _her._

She's laughing, standing behind the counter. It's a simple sketch but there's her messy bun stuck with pencils, the dimple on her right cheek, the sign about the cats to her left, her apron, the dumb flower pun stitched into the center of the chest, face as wide and open as a morning glory as the sun rises.

Fareeda looks up and almost starts by how close Opeli is. For not the first time, she can't help but notice the flecks of silver in her blue eyes and the laughter lines around her eyes.

"They're beautiful," she says softly as if she doesn't trust herself to say anything more at a higher volume. Opeli's smile is molasses-slow but just as comforting and warm.

She feels like she's sitting in the sun, barely inches away from Opeli's lips. She can smell the spearmint gum on her breath, the slight sting of chemicals from the ink that Opeli works with all day.

"Yeah," Opeli murmurs as she looks down before back up, "they are."

Somehow, Fareeda knows they aren't talking about the sketches anymore. She swallows thickly.

"I don't think Harrow inviting you over here was a coincidence," she whispers.

Opeli studies her face with a quick flick of her eyes but soon they're back on hers, on her lips. "And if it wasn't?"

It feels like all the oxygen in the world is in her lungs but isn't all at once. Fareeda's head spins as butterflies erupt in her stomach. She leans closer, knees digging into the wood but doesn't notice. She's floating on air.

"Then I would be grateful and probably owe Harrow a few dollars," she says instead and Opeli's hand cups her cheek.

"I owe Sarai, then."

She doesn't know who leans in first but doesn't care in the moment because Opeli tastes like honey chapstick and everything sweet in the world, like sunshine and sparkling water and summer-ripened strawberries. Her hands are soft and ever-so-slightly cool on Fareeda's cheeks and she feels like a cat who's rolled in catnip.

Their foreheads rest together. Opeli invites her over to the shop for lunch and with a poeny stain on her cheeks, Fareeda accepts.

When they walk into Badass Tatts with hands clasped together between them, Fareeda doesn't miss Sarai's victorious whoop and how Amaya passes a ten-dollar bill into her wife's hands, to Janai's smug approval. When Fareeda is swept into a hug by Harrow when break is over and is informed she's now expected to come to Tuesday night dinners with the rest of them _whether she has the time or not,_ she actually considers it.

She's never looked forward to Tuesdays before but she finds she's never happier than at the Katolis household, shoulder pressed to Opeli's and swapping stories with Ezran about the common honeybee as he quizzes her.

Opeli's hand knocks against hers below the table. Fareeda takes it and squeezes once as Ezran declares she's his favorite aunt and Opeli raises a _cheers!_ to that.

When Opeli kisses her goodnight in the doorway of her apartment, Fareeda asks with a shy grin if she'd like to stay. And she does that night, and the night after, and the night after that. Time wears on in the best of ways and Opeli wakes that first morning to find Rupert asleep on her face.

Fareeda laughs herself awake and kisses Opeli, orange fur stuck to her lip and all, and doesn't regret a single second of it.

**Author's Note:**

> the dragon prince s3 is COMING i can feel it in my BONES and i'm going feral even thinking about it so go follow me on my twitter (@qveensarai) to yell with me at all hours of the day (or night)


End file.
